Reactions to AOTC: spoilers within

I'm going to go out on a limb here. Stay with me for a moment and I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence or at least I'm going to try not to...the first three movies, don't have Luke, Leia, Han or any of the other folks we're used to because the trilogy ends because of them but the series isn't about them. It's about Anakin and never was about Luke, it's only about Luke in terms of Anakin/Vader. Everyone is clinging to the characters of the Original Trilogy, well, if you accept the New characters you might feel the same way. The first three movies are about a Man tanking it, and I mean eating it big time and the last three are about redemption. I think a lot of folks are still looking at the Trilogy in terms of the characters we know and love instead of viewing it through Vader but that's the only way it makes sense. Yeah Luke is important so is Leia and Han and Chewie but Vader is Gatsby and R2/3PO is Nick (or whatever the guys name that narrates that story). A lot of this is written with a great deal of sarcasm (me? Sarcastic? Nooooo) but I think you can't view the first three in terms of the last three. It's like one of them scholarly type books where you get a part 1 and a part 2 only there's three parts in part 1 and three parts in part 2. I sort of think of the whole things as like a Flash Gordon serial thing only with more depth and better effects and well Vader is much cooler than Ming the Merciless.


XXWampa

 

I agree with everything everyone has posted, but I want to point out one thing that sticks out -

I don't think a lot of people WANT to accept the new trilogy as a part of the original trilogy. I think it was Tom who said something to this effect and I really agree with it. I don't really understand what the expectations for these movies are, and I do think that AOTC has all the elements of the classic trilogy that you pointed out. While Vader was frightening in a physical sense (cool outfit, killing his own men), I think Palpatine (in the prequels) is much more frightening in a political and double dealing sense ("I love democracy and I love the Republic" - yeah...).

This is a different villain - a change - and like the previous post said, i think a lot of people who didn't like AOTC don't like change.

Sorry if this didn't make sense - I'm closing in on 24 hours without nicotine.

Jeff

 

24 hours without nicotine? Well damn, you should be beating your keyboard against something or someone by now. What's the matter with you Jeff? Sick?


Oh yeah, and I agree with Jeff. Palpy is more devious while Vader is just badass. Little, evil, new.

M

 

Agree w/you I do, Jeff. Palpy is totally evil, especially since we do know how that turns out, makes him all the more evil w/his words of peace and democracy, we know lying he is! and lying has got to be the worst form of psycological evil there is. Deception, false concern, pretensed humility, boy does he have them all suckered!! ok, its late, I'm tired much sense making I am not...

Oh yea, why no evil nicotine for so long?

 

For some reason, I've gotten it into my head to try to quit smoking. TV tells me it's pretty bad for me, and TV never lies...

Thank you "Truth" commercials, you've saved my life...



Jeff

 

That's damned funny. I hate those commericials so much I think about taking up smoking again. BTW, I'm digressing but get the gum, takes the edge off the screaming headaches....


And good luck.


M

PS- Also remember, this is the first time we get to see a Bad Guy become a Bad Guy and that's a new story. You get to see in three movies such an innocent good guy become just a nasty SOB (feel free to edit BYOB). That's a story that isn't going to sit well with a lot of people. We know what Vader ends up but we get to watch him get there and /that/ is the coolest part.
pps- See Payback if you like bad guys. There aren't /any/ good guys in that movie you just like the guy who's bastard in the most interesting way.

 

Master_Treadlite will not be visiting us for at least 23 hours or so. Thanks to him this thread has spiralled off topic.

How 'bout that fog? I thought it was cool to see fog on Coruscant in the opening scene. 'Twas a nice cover for the treachery at hand.

 

Yep, best luck to ya, good idea that is to quit I mean, MTFBWY.

 

I had a long explanation written out to explain why I liked AotC, and what I thought was good about it. It was a nice long list, a bit too flowery at times, a bit cheesy at others, and detailed the rest of the time. But then I realized, I don't really need to explain myself. I'm a Star Wars fan and I liked it because it met my expectations and took me back to the world I love. But if you want a real explanation about why I liked the movie, here is the Readers Digest version:









It entertained me.

Dwayne

 

[image=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols2/thumbs.up.jpg]

The Kenobi approves.

 

"hmmm..."

 

** I love our FanForce.. **

 

I don't agree with anything Master_Treadlite said, but please don't tell me you banned him for giving his reaction to AOTC on a thread called "Reactions to AOTC". I don't understand the people telling the guy to post his negative reaction to the movie on a whole new thread. That makes no sense. This thread isn't called "Reactions to AOTC - Positive only!".

Obviously the guy is a Star Wars fan, or he wouldn't have come to these boards in the first place. Take a deep breath, pry your fingers off the "ban" button and let's all get along like good little Jedi.

 

I certainly did not ban him for his opinion. He was banned for trolling the forum, and for thumbing his nose at me when I encouraged him to adjust his attitude toward the rest of you.

I will not continue this discussion here. If anyone else has a problem, feel free to PM me.

 

I agree with Darth_Lee on the issue of the possible(?) banning of Master_Treadlite.

*If* he was banned because he shared his opinion on AOTC, which I believe he did, then I think something is very wrong here.

I have posted a critical response to AOTC and caught some heat for it as well, but isn't that the reason for this forum? I didn't expect my opinions to be well recieved, but then I (and probably treadlite) sure didn't expect them to possibly get one banned!

Every one of Treadlite's posts seem to have critical reaction in them, bet they are definetly on-topic. Even when Treadlite supposedly posted off-topic, the truth was he was responding to another person's question about why he liked the original trilogy rather than AOTC. He answered in a proper and respectful manner.

I hope that we don't have thought police running this board. This is a forum--a dicussion of opinions--not a sociological attempt to recreate the oppressive dystopian world of "THX 1138".

If we can't gather as Star Wars fans and debate whether we liked something or not, what's the point of us having a board (or club) in the first place?

While I felt this is the proper place to post this response, I must also post something about AOTC for fear that the thought police might ban me for being slightly off thread...

Other things I did not care for in AOTC include:

-The drug dealer's "deathstick" was digitally drawn in and does not look good.
-In the background of the scene in which Padme and Anakin talk on the freighter headed for naboo, the digital mediam breaks up and there are a lot of color "noise" artificats in the frame for the close up. Not particularly well done.
-When Padme and Anakin walk away from the shuttle towards the freighter they cast shadows, but all the other people do not.
-Yoda's choppy dialog: "Around the survivors a perimeter create."

Things I liked even more when I saw the film again were:

-Music cues, from all of the previous films, were used when appropriate for all the characters and situations.
-I think the costuming on the extras in this flm was much more modern and futuristic.
-A rack of costumes for padme in her room when she's packing (How can that small suitcase hold so many?!!)
-The Emperor overlooking the clone troops at the end of the film. Classic forboding. An excellent touch.

 

Re: Padme's closet and small suitcase.

Hmm...have you ever seen those infomertials for the vacuum bags that squish things into smaller spaces?

 

C'mon... don't pick on the slight flaws in the digital f/x. What, like the matte lines in the classic trilogy were seamless? And the TIE fighters flying through the Falcon in Jedi were believable? Pshaw, I say.

But, you did nail a few things right
(primarily the stuff after the "Things I liked" heading)

The final scene with Palpy overlooking the troops as the Imperial March plays... absolutely chilling.

Jeff

 

ha-ha. Nice responses guys.

Yeah, the original trilogy wasn't perfect either, and I would be happy to complain about them in another (future) thread. For me visual impact is important, and unfortunely my eye catches digital effects faster and easier than model or matte effects.

That suitcase is like a bag of holding in D+D.

Keep up the good posts guys...

 

Zepo said: "If we can't gather as Star Wars fans and debate whether we liked something or not, what's the point of us having a board (or club) in the first place?"

Along those same lines, what's the point of coming into a Star Wars fan board and posting negatively about a movie that was overwhelmingly accepted by the fans of the series? Do you really think you'll change our minds? We've all seen flaws in it (and by we I mean the vast majority of people with positive opinions of AOTC). But those flaws are so minor as to not detract from our overall enjoyment of the movie.

Pointing them out to us or trying to find more minor flaws isn't going to make us suddenly realize the fools we've been and open our eyes to the great suckitude that is Star Wars.

We loved it. Zepo and Master didn't. Points made. I'm done with this topic.

Edit: sorry, forgot that Zepo did say he enjoyed it. Just got overwhelmed by the negatives...

Jeff

 

...thats right. And if you still have something to say you should take it up with the Ministry of Truth.

<Exit Winston Smith>

 

I honestly feel AOTC is the best Star Wars movie yet. It really captures the feel of our favorite galaxy far, far away better than Episodes 4-6. Don't get me wrong, by focusing on the main characters rather than their place in the galaxy, the original trilogy does a great job of creating the feel of a small band of rebels hiding from the evil empire while attacking it in guerilla warfare. But in AOTC, I enjoy seeing the glory and shear magnitude of the Republic and the Jedi Knights that preceeded the Empire and "the dark times." It was also very satisfying to see Yoda's skill with a lightsaber after it had been referenced so often in TPM & earlier in AOTC. I've been wondering how such a small creature could be an effective "great warrior" since 1980.

True the movie was, at times, unrealistic - but there's a very good reason for that . . . IT ISN'T REAL! I know I couldn't create better special effects. If YOU can, I'd like to be your agent.

All the same, is it too soon for me to get in line to see the final piece of the Star Wars puzzle? I can't wait for Episode III. Isn't that the measure of an excellent episode - it leaves you salivating for more? TPM didn't leave me anxious for the next installment like AOTC did, because TPM is the weakest link in the Star Wars chain. In my mind, AOTC will prove to be among the best of Lucas's movies.

 

Good luck on trying to quit the "death sticks", Jeff! The only way I got my mom to quit was to flush her cigs down the toilet! Go for the gum, I've heard it works really well.

The way I rate a good movie is by the additional times I see it. If I'm interested and entertained the second and third, etc. times, I know it's good. AOTC has entertained me all four times I've seen it. Another example is K-Pax. Good the first time, horrible the second. The Star Wars movies are unique in that they are still interesting and entertaining even though we've seen them hundreds of times. That, IMHO, is the was to know if a movie is good.

 

I HATE GUM! But, seriously, thanks for the support guys. This is quite a painful experience...

Jeff

 

*ahem*

How 'bout that fog, huh?

 

I liked the fog, but I really enjoyed watching the ship explode, launching debris everywhere, knocking a Naboo fighter off the platform (wonder where that ended up), and dropping it's wings to the landing platform. I also really feel sorry for Captain Typho's R2 unit... poor bugger never stood a chance...

Jeff